Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Musings and In-Game Scribbles

My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones).

Montreal Canadiens (18-18-3) at Toronto Maple Leafs (13-17-8)

Saturday, December 26, 2009
Game Forty (score posted following scribbles)
Musings and In-Game Scribbles are a “live blogging” of the game that are compiled (typed, actually) during the game and edited and posted shortly after the game.

I’m on the road and I’ve decided to watch the game on CBC. Not a pleasant decision and I did have a choice. I could have streamed it through my laptop; RDS sells a video feed for about three dollars. And if I get irritated enough with CBC, I may go with RDS. The drawback with that is the picture is limited by the laptop’s quality. My Dell Latitude is solid but television remains a far better visual alternative.

Halak has been announced as the starter for tonight. Halak has won three straight and will get the chance to win a fourth.

Development on the feed front; the solution so far seems to be getting the CKAC live feed through the internet (audio only) and having the CBC on in the background in case the CKAC feed fluctuates.

Red Fisher wrote today that winning starts in the crease and suggested that Jaroslav Halak is the most important factor in Montreal’s three road wins over Atlanta, Islanders and Carolina. A cynic (like me) might say that the biggest factor was the combined weakness of the three clubs. But three roads wins are better than three road losses, eh.

As of today, Atlanta is 16th, New York Islanders are 25th and Carolina Hurricanes are 30th.

Just hearing Ron McLean’s voice ignites small vortexes of vertigo quease. It’s my brain on CBC hockey acid. Non merci. I mute CBC and pray that CKAC can do the job.

CKAC seems to be a failure. But CJAD might have it. And they do. Gustavsson in net for Toronto.

First Period

Metropolit starts. CJAD sucks.

Gill takes it and moves it up. Crowd boos as Komisarek carries the puck.

Initial shot from the side. Easy save for Halak. Andrei moves it out. Andrei is Andrei Kostitsyn and Markov is just Markov (Andrei Markov).

Pouliot now carries it in offside.

Bergeron is pressing but the Leafs will move it out.

Laraque tries to keep it in on the left side. He gets some support from D’Agostini but a whistle goes as the Leafs exit. Laraque took a stick to the face and Luke Schenn will go for two minutes.

Plekanec is on the first wave. They move the puck well laterally, keeping it in on the points. Plekanec is faster than a

Canadiens score. Pacioretty from Gomez. Took a pass down the middle of the left circle. Forehand. Backhand. In.

Montreal 1, Toronto 0.

Just under four minutes elapsed.

Moen, Metropolit and Pacioretty follow. One entry. Brief. Second entry; no retrieval.

Plekanec is in now. Alone. Scores. Top shelf. He was harangued a bit, moved it to his forehand, lost his footing. Regained it. Shot high but it was a tap more than a shot.

Montreal 2, Toronto 0.

CKAC is doing the game. Ok.

Toronto gets their first control of the night. It’s the longest by either team (five-on-five) and it lasts 15 seconds before they are pushed out. They move it back in but this time Spacek moves it out to Lapierre and the Canadiens resume their attack. Laraque and Lapierre work it deep.

Now the refs break up a potential fight between Colton Orr and Georges Laraque.

They’ll sort out the penalties after the commercial.

Orr was called for roughing. He was aggressive with Spacek after Spacek hit him legally. Typical Colton Orr. D’Agostini and Laraque both supported their teammate.

First wave is on. Initial control is bumpy. Now a faceoff for the second wave as the Canadiens are forced to a circle deep in their end. They re-enter for a puck-around the bowl play and have to reset for a third time. Just under a minute left in the penalty.

Who names their son Colton?

Gustavsson is knocked down on a drive to the net by Metropolit. Elbow to the mask. Metropolit made no effort to reduce his velocity. He watches the replay without repentance and with a patina of curiosity. The call is goaltender interference and we’ll go to four-on-four for a very short time. Moments pass and Toronto moves to nearly a full two-minute power-play.

First incursion is repelled. Second one is called for offside. Martin paces and tries to hide his pleasure in the score.

Moen is called for hooking. Two-man advantage. Montreal clears the first effort.

They get a second clear just three seconds later.

Kaberle has it now on the blue line. Passes to the hash. It goes back to him. A shot. Halak makes a good save.

Toronto applies the pressure. Three shots, one from in close. Halak smothers it. No animosity after the whistle. I’m surprised. Again, Toronto is showing that they are a much different team from last season. Cleaner. More skilled, too.

Still thirty seconds in the power-play. Kaberle controls it on the left face-off circle. He is a great quarterback. Always in motion and a master space (and occasionally, time).

CKAC is better than CJAD’s monotone English. But nobody is as good as Pierre Houde. They should re-hire Yvon Pednault. Coffee needs a thermos.

Halak is like a puma in pads. Red and white puma. I’m looking forward to Price’s return to the crease. But Halak is a very good player. A leopard to Price’s lion.

Metropolit line is on. Moen chases. O’Byrne interrupts. Gill eliminates. Plekanec gets a glove in a face. He’s unafraid. Stajan shows the usual belligerence reserved for foreign-born players in response.

Faceoff.

Canadiens resume puck control. Plekanec is playing with brio and verve. He could approach Koivu’s seven-up presence one day.

Pace is shiny sun on dentist’s furniture. This ain’t velour and coat; it’s heat and rip. But Montreal is the better of the two in this kind of match. They just have better passers.

Toronto slows it briefly in their own zone. They move out briskly. And they draw a penalty. O’Byrne.

It’s holding. And again, O’Byrne is victimized by his size. His hit was legal. But because he is so big, it looked worse than it really was. Toronto benefits.

Three clears and one shot in the first minute for Toronto.

Lapierre and Markov cause the most problems for the Leafs on this man-advantage. Even Halak gets involved with a clearing flip from behind his net. The penalty drains out with Moen and Markov working to Halak’s left. Plekanec dumps it in and Cammalleri chases it in. Toronto exits and a whistle ends the action in the Montreal end soon afterward.

Icing. Toronto.

Sergei’s line is on next. Gomez and Pouliot are with him. Working the boards. Shot by Pouliot. Bad angle. Stopped.

Stajan goes in offside with Blake.

Just twenty-five seconds left in the first period.

Period ends

Images of Don Cherry the xenophobe and irrelevant Queen’s pauper dilute the screen. It’s on mute.

First Intermission

Montreal 2, Toronto 0

CJAD interviews the goalie mask guy who made the mistake with Price’s mask. He says “you know what” about five times in the interview. CJAD also manages to mention the troops and Cherry also shows some military mobster footage, too. What a waste of time. Sports as a vehicle for supporting corporate warfare lost its appeal decades ago and should now be illegalized. Like cigarette ads in magazines. Military pageantry is beyond offensive. Cigarettes cause cancer. War causes the death of society’s most marginalized. Commercialization of either causes stupidity.

Next.

They also interview Carey Price and he discusses the mask mistakes and meeting with the artist with diplomacy. David Arrigo is the artist and his work is uncharming at best and Steve Ditko at worst. Goes to show that pretty and popular aren’t always flush.

Second Period

Montreal 2, Toronto 0

First three minutes are full of challenge and hard chase. The teams are in the mood to take the puck away. And the possessions are short as a result.

Gorges’ mouthguard is a giant plastic tapeworm-tongue doughnut hanging from his mouth. We see him chewing it, sitting on the bench.

Faceoff to Halak’s right. Toronto wins it. Pushed out. They re-enter. Pass to the point. Rebound goes to the slot. Fanned on. Controlled. Pushed out. Icing.

Rickard Wallin works in the corner for Toronto. Puck is kicked way from him. Short passes work for a short time for both teams but crossing the enemy blue line is a chore.

D’Agostini takes a hit trying to keep the puck deep. The disc rolls to Laraque. He cruises slowly unchecked (they wait for him to turn it over). He eventually loses it.

Moen enters. Drives. Right side. Tries to jam it in from the side. Too sharp an angle. Gustavsson controls it and we’ll have a faceoff.

My audio battle continues. CKAC keeps nipping in and out. The blanks and silences are infuriating. I go with CBC for the first time tonight. Let’s see how long I last.

Bob Cole is doing the game.

Twelve and a half minutes left in the second period.

Pacioretty line. Lead pass goes three lines. Entry shot follows. Nothing. Rebound is also a nothing.

Kostitsyn works to get the puck and breaks a Leaf stick. Hagman’s. He’s going to get called for it. It’s automatic.

Toronto goes to the power-play.

Markov gets the first clear. Opportunistic.

Toronto goes offside.

Plekanec versus Stajan. Stajan wins. Pass to the rearguard. Up to the neutral zone. Bubbled back. They keep control. But they can’t get it past the Montreal blue line. Montreal’s penalty-kill is PDF. Very diagrammed and disciplined.

Whistle.

Gomez is on with Sergei for the second pairing with just under thirty seconds left in the penalty. And about nine and a half minutes left in the period.

Long shot hits Gorges. He knocks it down and it’s cleared. Inn the Toronto zone. Sergei. To Andrei. Missed. Another one. This one is gloved. The two are playing together much more regularly. It’s all working out. They’ve had to earn it under Martin (as they had to under Carbonneau). This time it’s final.

Commercial.

Alcohol commercials should be illegal, too. Yes, I know some of you have heard this old man say it before. I’m about as dustmite as Cherry. Just a lot less well-known. And much prettier.

Andrei’s drop-pass was a bit too eager. It was for his brother. And it was almost a direct pass to a Leaf.

Halak is on the ice and crabbing over to his right. It’s way too slow for a crease coward like me. But it works. And then he makes another save. Cole says “that was a good save by Halak”. I’m translating.

I’m kidding.

Cole is doing a good job.

Lapierre takes the faceoff to Halak’s left. Wins it. Gill helps.

Toronto makes an exit soon afterwards. Post.

D’Agostini is Mr. Minimum yet again. But he does add a stick to the missed puck equation.

Next incursion is down the middle. Ponikarovsky. Backhand. Great save by Halak. A second high-level save tonight.

Six and a half minutes left. Who would you rather have; Tom Kostopoulos or Travis Moen? Two great workers. Moen gets over the blue line and slaps a shot at Gustavsson who holds it for a faceoff.

Gorges tries to fire it in. Falls. Puck is blocked at the blue line. Offside. Whistle.

Toronto wins the faceoff. Cross-ice pass leads to an interrupted shot attempt by Grabovski (all three were named to the Belarusian national team… you oughta know which three).

Another faceoff. Sergei. Andrei and Mikhail. How many more phone calls?

Long shot bounds and floops to Halak off a waist and a stick. It’s a tough shot, though low-velocity, but Halak handles it and holds it for a faceoff.

Pace is sharp. Toronto is resilient and creating the best chances of the period while Montreal is matching the effort. But the Canadiens could do more.

Long shot. In the net. Deflected. Off a pass from the circle. Toronto.

Montreal 2, Toronto 1.

Goal is credited to Ian White.

Air Canada Centre wakes up for about twenty seconds. Go Leafs Go chant ends with about 3:58 left in the second period.

Toronto pressure continues. But Pacioretty skates out striding long. He is chased closely enough that a shot is the best option. And I don’t fear Pacioretty’s shot. Stopped easily.

Montreal gets into some rumpus room trouble in the slot. Gomez helps clear the toys and mess and moves the puck out. But a whistle goes within ten seconds. Komisarek tries to play the well-loved customer with the refs. No calls.

Did Komisarek take a high stick? His head snapped back. But the replay and Bob Cole create doubt in my mind.

Plekanec line is on. Minute and a half left in the period.

Halak clears the puck around his net.

Cammalleri exits. Dumps it in so Metropolit’s line can join the action. Metropolit sends a very dangerous pass to the slot. No conversion.

Thirty seconds.

Leafs enter.

Ponikarovsky continues to be the trenchcoat danger man. Works along the boards. Makes an incursion down the middle. Does some other impressive stuff. No shots.

Period ends.

Bobby Orr’s car commercial. People don’t like making Bobby Orr angry or saying anything negative about him.

Even the fictional Jesus was open to criticism. Now, wasn’t he. Celebs, gods and politicians serve life. Not the other way around.

Second Intermission

Montreal 2, Toronto 1

Elliotte Friedman interviews Benoit Pouliot. Pouliot is about as rigid as Renaud Lavoie is when he interviews Anglophones. I don’t like it. Especially since Pouliot is gregarious with the RDS people.

Milbury pisses me off with his talk of hard-nosed Team Canada forwards as we see his picks and CBC gets the mute for the first time tonight. Milbury’s team is missing Toews. Glenn Healy’s picks look like a faster team. Are we going to get embarrassed on the world stage again? Get ready, we look as if we’ll lack speed, skill and class. What’s left that can win it? Goaltending, defence, intimidation and home ice advantage. Might be enough. Is that how you want to win?

Pas moi. I’d rather lose with grace than win with grim gravol. It’s how you play in my world. Process rules over outcome.

No wonder so many Canadian hockey opinions are so short on facts and so stinging long on emotions. The CBC fuels the jingo hoses. Drive right up and blast right off. Belicose and barrel vinegar. How pleasant the Hitler drone of “my nation right or wrong”.

Jeff Marek’s on-air demeanour works for me. It’s my first time seeing him on air. Good addition for CBC. He’ll be with TSN, the Score or Sportsnet before the next decade is out.

What is Joel saying? What did Francois research? Is Pierre concerned about the Canadiens’ effort on the forecheck?

I hate road trips.

Third Period

Montreal 2, Toronto 1

ACC crowd is the usual concentration of Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Calgary castoffs. What a homogenous crowd. The cultural Osaka of the hockey world. One brand, one cheese, one ugly blue stripe.

Stajan is not working very hard under the Montreal end line. Is he a lazy player? I’ll have to ask a Leaf person.

He retrieves the puck on the back check and starts a rush. It’s stopped in the neutral zone. Now Pouliot is on the ice, sweeping like a white condor. He’s pretty tall.

Faceoff to the left of Halak. Toronto controls. They have the luxury of a pass along the blue line before a three-on-two ends with a backhander from Moen. It gives Gustavsson some trouble.

Toronto is back and fierce. Shot. Another shot. Halak tries to grab it but goes for show as much as for glow and he can’t grab it. And the puck falls in a half-second later. Unfortunate goal for Halak.

Toronto 2, Montreal 2.

Blake gets credit for it. Phone call. Did it get kicked in? Burke has his arms crossed.

There has to be a purposeful gesture for it to be reversed.

Gainey and Burke are so different from one another. We see Gainey turned half-away from the ice surface and with “can we get it over with” expression on his face. He is more concerned with analyzing the game than with the moment-to-moment surface issues.

Call is a goal. Burke smiles and gives a bantam-hockey thumbs up. All ruddy and defiant.

Puck scoots to the slot on the next incursion and we are in trouble with D’Agostini, Lapierre and Laraque as our response line to a Toronto goal.

Luckily, twenty seconds is all we get of that horror-combo. Plekanec line is on next. And the Montreal puck is Montreal’s. Always and forever. Sorry.

Sergei nearly scored. How did he not. Drilled into the slot. Pelican miss. Long beak and flashed fish. And another “f” word.

Gill retreats with it. Five and a half minutes elapsed.

Whistle not long afterwards. On Toronto ice.

Shots on goal are 41-16 in favour of Toronto. Red said a team can’t maintain a pace like that and expect the goaltender to last. I’m paraphrasing. Fair point.

Pacioretty skates hard and has the puck turned away at the blue line. O’Byrne and Komisarek exchange gloves to the face. And the Sergei replay confirms what a good chance that was. High and off Gustavsson’s mask. Uncontested in the crease.

Primeau controls it deep. Drops it to the point. Back into the corner. Pinching defender shoots it wide. And Montreal carries it out and lobs it down.

Stajan’s neutral zone pass is sent the other way. Whistle.

Sergei versus some Leaf. Loses it. Kaberle starts from behind his net. Sends it ahead. Spacek loses his battle in the corner. Leafs lose it on the point.

Chance in the slot. How did it not go in? Oy.

Pouliot is six foot-three and 199 pounds.

Blake misses a great slot-shot setup.

Toronto is controlling the puck but can’t generate a shot yet. Just over ten minutes left in the period.

Plekanec is the best forward on the ice for Montreal tonight. Best incursions are Plekanec-led.

Gomez’ confidence is in that valley between desperation and frustration. He whips a pass to the front and hopes for the best. A great playmaker like Gomez would have slowed down and timed it better. As it was, the puck missed the Hab in the slot, preceded him, and then just caromed out of the Toronto zone.

Whistle soon afterward.

Cole gives Markov some props. They show some of his good defensive work in clearing the puck.

Turnovers, turnovers. Cammalleri. And others. It’s happening mostly from the forwards this period. Gustavsson holds it for a faceoff.

Gorges keeps it in following a Montreal faceoff win.

Halak is also being a bit more careless with the puck. It’s as if the team needs to get behind on goals. Just to relieve the pressure. Self-sabotage.

Halak makes a sharp save to shut me up.

Just under six minutes in the third period.

Toronto is carrying the action in Montreal territory. They are playing like the team that believes they will win. Montreal is … waiting for a cape. Keep waiting then. Or get your soup on.

F-strike.

Commercial.

We return and get more shots of Gainey and Burke. And one of Andrei and one of Wilson.

Toronto keeps sending it through the slot and it’s worth it tonight as Montreal players keep mishandling the puck in that area or turning it over.

It’s the Lapierre line that gets my first out-loud comment of the game; “for god’s sake”. They allow Toronto to operate unlimited. Blue battery hype can sell a lotto-lotto wheels. And that’s the ticket for TO. Lotteries, luck and loudness. Get it together.

Pouliot line is on. Pouliot is giving about 50% on his forecheck. Another one, eh. Great.

Two and a half minutes left.

Andrei gets in. Shoots. Covered. Wide. Wrister, screened.

Puck squirts out. Offside.

Just over two minutes.

Moen line. I can relax a bit, then. But they lose the puck almost immediately. Short side shot. Halak snakes it out.

Minute and a half. Montreal is called for icing.

Metropolit’s dump-in is called for icing. Mistake.

Another icing. Less of a mistake. Just under a minute. Buys some rest.

Another clear but this one works.

Plekanec line is on. Just over thirty seconds left. How can we be tied? Twenty seconds. Kaberle is moving down. Creating.

Now a pass to the slot. Goal. Shot wide.

Should have been a goal. Kessell. How did he blow that one? Halak had position on it. But what a chance.

Overtime

Four-on-four. For five minutes. And a shootout if the teams are still tied.

Toronto has some fairly orcish scorers.

Gomez and Kostitsyn are the first pairing.

Kostitsyn scores. Off the circle, turning. Shooting.

Montreal 3
Toronto 2

HDS Stars: Jaroslav Halak, Tomas Kaberle, Tomas Plekanec
CBC Stars: Jaroslav Halak, Jason Blake, Andrei Kostitsyn

All Don Cherry talks about now is the Leafs.

He played one NHL game.

He ain’t immigrant-positive (ironic, since he and all y’all are immigrants – me too), he loves the queen and he’s probably god-fearing. He encourages hateful children, disrespects those outside his scope and loves the military. He is bile and his Canada doesn’t include Maestro Fresh Wes. Does Cherry deserve a job? Or should he be unemployed? Does Cherry deserve citizenship? Or should he be deported?

Related posts:

1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs
3. Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins
4. Montreal Canadiens vs Ottawa Senators
5. Montreal Canadiens vs Carolina Hurricanes
6. Montreal Canadiens versus Ottawa Senators